The most important divergence from the earlier reports and Clarkson's story is that the license plate that supposedly angered Argentinians with a supposed reference to the Falklands War, reading "H982FKL" wasn't even on the Porsche 928 that Clarkson was driving in Argentina. The offending plates were removed at the port after the team heard from someone on Twitter that it might give offense. Apparently word still got out to Argentinians, however, and the subtle distinction was lost.

Clarkson thinks the plates are a red herring, and instead posits that local politicians played up the controversy in order to give cause to expel the controversial Brits and gain brownie points back home. It's typical Clarkson aggrandizement, and it may also be true, strangely enough.

As to the dangers the team faced, it seems real. While the hosts fled to the airport, about 30 production crew had to run a gauntlet of roadblocks and mobs in order to seek refuge in Chile, about 6 hours away. The video we posted yesterday likely shows the production team trying to leave the country.

Clarkson does claim that he, Richard Hammond, and James May did have to abandon their cars and hide in a hotel as the locals rampaged through, looking for them. Luckily, despite some damage to vehicles, there's an interesting upside to the whole affair. Rather than a game of car soccer, which was the point of filming in Argentina, the Top Gear crew now has an international political controversy to make hay out of. And if there's one thing that Clarkson thrives on, it's controversy.